Fujitsu Siemens Releases FlexFrame for Oracle Rapid Edition

Fujitsu Siemins Computers, an Oracle Certified Advantage Partner, has released FlexFrame for Oracle RE (Rapid Edition), a server consolidation and high-availability solution for Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware, and Oracle applications. FlexFrame for Oracle RE can be used to consolidate standalone industry-standard servers, storage, and applications into a reliable, shared infrastructure in which any application can use any server and storage. It also provides high availability for servers running Linux-based Oracle applications.

FlexFrame for Oracle RE is delivered, installed, and maintained like an appliance, so it can be implemented with little disruption and risk. Operating systems and Oracle services can run unmodified on FlexFrame for Oracle RE, and consolidated operating system images are easier to store and maintain in the virtual FlexFrame environment when compared with local boot environments.

Oracle Certified Advantage Partner AT&T will use its global network platform to deliver subscription-based PeopleSoft solutions from Oracle to midsize companies in the U.S. The end-to-end, hosted PeopleSoft payroll and payroll tax solution combines AT&T’s business process outsourcing services, utility computing platform, and application management capabilities. The bundled package is provided at a monthly, per-employee fee, which reduces the up-front software implementation costs.

Companies using the solution can add employees, track pay and benefits, connect with financial back-end systems, and calculate payroll deductions. “We are excited to work with AT&T to address the need for a cost-effective, predictably priced human resource service for companies that prefer to focus their efforts on their core differentiators,” says Keith Block, executive vice president, Oracle North America Sales.

Intel and Oracle Collaborate on Cloud Computing Technology and Standards

Intel and Oracle are collaborating to make cloud computing more efficient and secure. Together, the companies will identify and drive standards that enable flexible deployment across private and public clouds. Intel, an Oracle Certified Advantage Partner, is working with Oracle in three broad areas: efficiency, security, and standards.

In efficiency, as Intel introduces new server platforms and enhances virtualization technology, the two companies will work to achieve performance and power efficiency gains.

In security, Oracle and Intel will work together to strengthen the security of virtual machines in a shared cloud environment. As Intel develops virtualization security features, the two companies will optimize the features for Oracle software. Additionally, the companies will continue to integrate their data encryption technologies to ensure data privacy and security in shared public cloud environments.

In standards, Intel and Oracle will collaborate with other industry leaders to extend standards that enable portability of virtual machine images, such as the Open Virtual Format, and to create Web services standards for provisioning and management of cloud-based services.

“Intel and Oracle are taking a leadership role to expand the reach of enterprise-ready cloud computing,” says Doug Fisher, vice president, Software and Solutions Group (SSG), and general manager of SSG’s Systems Software Division at Intel. “By collaborating to improve efficiency, extend standards, and enhance security, we’re making cloud computing more of an option for enterprise deployments.”

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Expert System Integrates COGITO with Oracle Solutions

Oracle partner Expert System, a provider of software that discovers, classifies, and interprets text information, has integrated its COGITO Semantic Intelligence Engine with Oracle Spatial and Oracle’s business intelligence and enterprise performance management offerings. Combined, the products provide a comprehensive semantic intelligence and business analytics solution for managing, optimizing, and analyzing internal and external content.

COGITO identifies the structural and lexical aspects of text, identifies conceptual links between various documents, and carries out disambiguation and advanced semantic comprehension. One of the most advanced and complete inference engines on the market today, it achieves 85 to 90 percent precision and recall on any electronic text.

Oracle Announces Accelerate Academy

Oracle has created the Oracle Accelerate Academy, a program that provides a learning curriculum and services to assist Oracle partners in marketing, selling, and implementing Oracle Accelerate solutions in midsize organizations. The academy builds on the Oracle Partner Enablement 2.0 strategy and extends the Oracle PartnerNetwork Boot Camp curriculum with information and courses specific to Oracle Accelerate.

Key components of the Oracle Accelerate Academy include a “jump start” program for new Oracle’s JD Edwards value-added resellers with training and demand-generation support from Oracle, HP, and IBM; guided learning paths that help partners increase proficiency in core competency areas including marketing, sales, and implementation; and hardware product training that enables Oracle Accelerate partners to provide complete hardware and applications solutions. Partners that participate in Oracle Accelerate Academy can also engage in joint marketing programs with Oracle and its Oracle Accelerate partners.

“As an Oracle partner with an Oracle Accelerate solution, PetroNet is able to continually update our skills through key Oracle Accelerate Academy training programs,” says Caroline Santora, CEO of PetroNet. “These offerings have provided us with the ability to further train our sales and implementation teams in the latest tools and software offerings. Oracle’s investment in the academy directly impacts our firm’s ability to be a successful partner and deliver midsize solutions to the oil and gas industry.”

Book Beat

Oracle 11g for Dummies

Whether you are a seasoned system administrator charged with setting up an Oracle database or you’ve suddenly become a DBA by default, this nuts-and-bolts book will guide you through the mysteries of Oracle database administration. You’ll learn how to understand Oracle database architecture and set up and manage an Oracle database and keep it running in tip-top form. Oracle 11g for Dummies covers many of the new features released in Oracle Database 11g, as well as the fundamental building blocks behind the database engine and its physical and logical structures.

The book covers hardware, software, system, and storage requirements for implementation; how to recognize and accommodate the differences between Oracle installations on Windows and on Linux/UNIX; daily and intermittent tasks necessary to keep your database running properly; how to assess potential threats to your database; and how to configure Oracle Recovery Manager and set up backup and recovery procedures. Other topics include when to use online, offline, controlfile, and archivelog backups; troubleshooting methodology and how to use Oracle database logs and diagnostic utilities; and different ways to manage your database.

Coauthor Chris Zeis is CTO at Oracle partner Perpetual Technologies. Chris Ruel is an Oracle DBA and consultant. Michael Wessler manages multiple Web applications for the U.S. Department of Defense and consults at various government and private agencies.

Beginning Oracle Database 11g Administration: From Novice to Professional

If you are an aspiring DBA or have suddenly found yourself in a DBA position with no training, Beginning Oracle Database 11g Administration will get you started down the right path. Author Iggy Fernandez lays a solid foundation for success beginning with relational database fundamentals and then Oracle architecture. Other topics include planning and installation and database creation, backup, and recovery.

The author also recognizes the importance of people and processes. In his favorite chapter, “The Big Picture and the Ten Deliverables,” he discusses managing and developing yourself. Fernandez is a DBA who writes from experience: he was thrust, literally overnight, from C++ programming to a junior DBA position.

What’s in your digital landfill? For most organizations, it is littered with unstructured content: word processing files, e-mail, spreadsheets, scanned documents, records, images, video, and Web sites—and it is doubling in size every other year. This book presents a pragmatic strategy for transforming this data and gaining a competitive edge. It shows how to consolidate your content into one strategic repository, federate content services to tactical and legacy systems, and secure information regardless of where it is. It also covers how content management fits in with the next generation of Enterprise 2.0 tools.

Coauthor Andy MacMillan is vice president of product management for Oracle content management. Brian “Bex” Huff is president and chief software architect at Bezzotech, an enterprise content management consulting firm.

SOA Design Patterns

In cooperation with experts and practitioners throughout the service-oriented architecture (SOA) community, author Thomas Erl brings together the de facto catalog of design patterns for SOA and service orientation. More than three years in development and subjected to numerous industry reviews, the book includes 85 patterns that provide successful and proven design techniques for overcoming the most common and critical problems to achieving modern-day SOA.

With more than 400 color illustrations, this book provides in-depth coverage of patterns for the design, implementation, and governance of service inventories; patterns specific to service-level architecture; service composition patterns; and compound patterns.

Erl is the founder of SOA Systems, which provides SOA consulting and training services. He is also the founder of the SOA Certified Professional program.